5 Prominent Republicans Who Refuse to Stand By Donald Trump in 2024: "Here’s the Bad News"
5 Republicans Who Stand Firmly Against Trump’s 2024 Candidacy
Despite maintaining a substantial lead in the GOP primary, former President Donald Trump remains a polarizing figure within his own party. Several former and current lawmakers, Republican strategists, and even members of his previous administration have echoed strong opposition to his 2024 candidacy. The reasons range from his alleged role in the January 6 Capitol riots to his conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Here are five prominent Republicans who have made it clear they stand against Trump in the upcoming election.
1. Former VP Mike Pence
Former Vice President Mike Pence has publicly stated he will not endorse his former boss in the 2024 election. In an interview, Pence highlighted, “Look, I’m incredibly proud of the record of our administration. It was a conservative record that made America more prosperous, more secure, and saw conservatives appointed to our courts in a more peaceful world. But that being said, during my presidential campaign, I made clear there were profound differences between me and President Trump on a range of issues.” Unfortunately, this decision put him at odds with Trump’s supporters, leading to chants of ‘Hang Mike Pence!’ during the January 6 riots.
2. Mitt Romney
Utah Senator Mitt Romney has been a consistent critic of Trump. In a CNN interview earlier this year, Romney made it clear he is ‘absolutely not’ supporting Trump in the next election. He explained, “...who I want to have as the leader of my country and the person who is the example of the president for my kids and my grandkids… What America is as a nation, what has allowed us to be the most powerful nation on Earth, and the leader of the Earth is the character of the people who have been our leaders." Romney added, “Past presidents, but also mothers, fathers, church leaders, university presidents, and so forth…Having a president who is so defaulted of character would have an enormous impact on the character of America,” he added. “And for me, that’s the primary consideration.”
3. Chris Christie
As per News Nation, Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a contender in the 2016 and 2024 Republican primaries, has also expressed his refusal to support Trump. Christie stated, “We have two awful choices here, in my view… The only thing I will commit to is: I’m not voting for Trump under any circumstances… Well, what I’ve said in the past is that, I’d have to see a path for anybody — not just me — but I think anybody who would accept that would need to see a path to 270 electoral votes… If there was ever a time in our lifetime when a third-party candidate could make a difference, I think it’s now. The question, though, is what kind of difference.”
4. Liz Cheney
As per CBS News, Former Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney has been one of Trump’s most vocal Republican critics. As the vice chair of the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riots, Cheney has warned of the dangers Trump poses to American democracy. She remarked, “He's told us what he will do. It's very easy to see the steps that he will take. … People who say, ‘Well, if he's elected, it's not that dangerous because we have all of these checks and balances,’ don't fully understand the extent to which the Republicans in Congress today have been co-opted. … One of the things that we see happening today is a sort of a sleepwalking into dictatorship in the United States.”
5. Anthony Scaramucci
Anthony Scaramucci, who was dismissed as White House communications director after just 10 days, has publicly distanced himself from Trump. Recent reports from the Federal Election Committee revealed that Scaramucci contributed $30,000 to Biden’s 2024 presidential campaign. He has previously criticized Trump as well. A while ago, Scaramucci remarked, “Now you would find him to be more brittle, defensive, and self-exclamatory where he’s just launching into these run-on long sentences. He’s having a conversation with himself and it’s a rationalization of who he is and what he’s doing and he’s trying to explain to everybody that he knows it all, he’s got it all figured out, and that’s a great tragedy in itself because nobody has it all figured out.” Moreover, Scaramucci remarked, “Here’s the bad news, though. Even if you got him to focus on it, he wouldn’t listen to you anyway because he’s so maniacally narcissistic. He wants to immobilize everybody around him and then he wants to go on and win the presidency anyway on this nihilistic rampage and show everybody, ‘See, I wiped out all of you with napalm and I didn’t need any of you.’ That’s full-blown narcissism.”
